Apparatus for recording and reproducing sound.



F. S. OBER, DECD.

J. R. 8; E. I; OBER, ADMINISTRATOR'S. APPARATUS FOR RECORDING AND nemonucma scum).

Patented Jan. 4, 1916.

3 SHEETSSHEET I APPLICATION FILED JAN. 8. I908.

8 W00 wlioz Patented Jan. 4, 1916. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

amen-lion am 4% n n l l n M NH HHHI I I h nU uh. Pu nu nu n. nU u U 3 U I u nu nu. nu nu flu F. S. OBER, DEC'D.

1. a. a E- I. OBER. ADMINISTRATORS. APPARATUS FOR RECGRDING AND REPRODUCING SOUND.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 8, 1908.

F. S. OBER, DECDJ R. 6 E. I- OBER, ADMINISTRATORS. APPARATUS FOR RECORDING AND REPRODUCING SOUND.

' APPLICATION men JAN. 8. 190a.

1 166 925, Patented Jan. 4, 1916.

Fag. 5? I 7" -z Z1 m la wifuebaco magnets arranged at suitable'intervals algng UNITED STATES PATE T onnIcE.

FRANK soME's OIBER, 'orNEw YORK, N. Y.; JOSEPHINE n. onnn AND ERNEs'r I. OBER 'ADMINISTRATQ'RS or sAn') FRANK soMEsoBER, DECEASED.

APPARATUS FonfRE coRDING. AND umwems soUND.

0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRANK SoMEs OBER,

a citizen of the United States, residing at State of New York have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Recording and Reproducing Sound,'of which the following is afull, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to apparatus forrecording and reproducing sound and has particular reference to machines of this character commonly known as telegraphonesl. K I

One of the well-known forms of telegraphone is that in which the record medium is a steel wire upon which the record is im-', pressed magnetically whil e, 1said Wire is traveling from one reel to'a-nother' In re-v producing the record it is necessary to backwind the wireto the point thereonwhere the magnetically impressed record begins, and then start ahead again with the reproducing devices in circuit.

The primary object of the presentinvention is to produce a novel form of telegraphone which shall provide for a tra'veling flexible record medium of great capacity and in which no backwinding will be required in order to reach the beginning or any part of any record impressed thereon; and which shall further provide means whereby the active eifectof certain recording and reproducing devices may be' transferred from point to' point along the extent of the traveling mediunrand 'so enable an operator to passed agiven point};or' to-drop behind in T Starting at the point :0 the steel wire" order to more quickly engage partsig'that are approaching a given point.

Broadly stated the invention Tconsists of thecombination of a traveling record medium of novel form, recordingand repro-Q ducing devices, and novel means for establishing' coiiperative' relations betweensaid medium and said devices at preferred locations on the surface of said medium with-. out reversing the movement of the latter.

' fication.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patentgd J 311.4 1916.. Application filed January s, 1905. Serial No. 409L744; J

the length of saidwire, and-means controllable bythe operator whereby' any of such magnets may be thrown'i'nto or out of op New York, in the county of New York and eratlve-relatlon with sand travellng wlre at] will.

by reference to-the accompanying drawings n which Figures 1 and Qarediagrammatic repref sentations of my invention; Fig. 3 is a side Y so The invention will be better understood away; Fig. Q isa sectional view through the casing, the inner mechanism being shown in elevation; Fig. .6 1s a detalled lan .view

showing certain driy ing'devices; iig. 7 is av detailed-perspective view Fig. 8' is a section on line baw of Fig. 7; Fig. 9 isa section on line y.3 of'Fig. 7, and Fig. 10 is'a modi; Referringto the drawings by letters and similar parts throughout the several views, let us first consider Fig. 1, Which-presents the most graphic view of the invention. For

the sake of simplicity and .clearness only the salient features. of the invention appear in B C C D D ,and E E located at rather widely separated'intervals along the length of said medium. The supporting and driving rollers'are eight in number andare numeralsin which like/characters designate arranged in four pairs and are designated overtake parts of said medium that have I ,-1 2, 2*, 3-, 3 and4, 4?. 4

so on in successive loops or spiral'turns from end to end-offthe first pairof rollers. 3 The last turn around roller 1, as will beob served, is led over to and around the lower roller 2 f the next pair, 1; ence up to and around roller 2*, back to aiidaroundroller 2, and so on in successive-loops or iral turns until More specifically'the invention consistsof fthe'capacity'o'f-this.palris ex; austed; 'From, 50. anendle'ss length of'parainagnetic material "rollers 2 and 2, the wire is'led to rollers 3 such as, steel wire arranged in successive loopsupon and adapted to travel over the surfaces of two or more rollers, and having a plurality of recording and reproducing and 3*, and fromthat pair-of rollers A and 4 ,;the same looping .or'spiral arrangement being-maintained throu hout, The last turn around roller4' isearned up past roller 4 to guide pulley z"; thence to point w, where Figs. 4,5 and 6 show the manner of mounting and driving the rollers. 10 representsaframe consisting of the side pieces g for inspection or repair, the magnet B be- 11 and 12 and cross rods or bars 13, the. side "pieces-being L-shaped. In the lower for- I mounted in the frame 10.

ward portion of the frame is hung" an electric motor 14, having a pulley 15 connected by a belt 16 to a pulley 17 on a shaft 18, Shaft 18 also carries a spur wheel 19, and a bevel-gear wheel 20. In the upper part of the frame is a secondishaft 21, also carrying a spur wheel 22 and a bevel gear ,wheel 23; the two bevels being connected together by a vertical shaft 24 carrying bevel gears 25 and 26 at opposite ends thereof;. the arrangement being sucln that rotation of the motor shaft will cause both spur wheels 19 and 22 to turn in the same direction. Rollers 1, 2, 3,

and 4 are each provided with reduced ends which enter bearings in the side pieces of the frame 10.. Each of such rollers is further provided with a pinion 27 the several v pinions each engaging a spur wheel 19.

Similarly, rollers 1, 2, 3, and 4 are each provided with reduced ends which are supported in the extreme upper part of frame 10, and with pinions 28 which severally engage the spur wheel 22.

All of the rollers are of precisely the same diameter and all travelat the same speed and in the same direction. It is obvious therefore that operation of the motor 1 will cause the wire to travel in an endless path about the rollers in the same direction as, and at a speed equal to, the surface speed of said rollers.

In order to retain the wire is, to confine it to an approximately fixed pathjof travel, and particularly to' prevent deflection of-the same as it passes-between the poles of magnets hereinafter described, 1 employ-a number of combs or slotted bars 29, which are arranged transversely across themachine at suitable points and serve to separate and guide the several strands of the traveling wire. In Fig; 7 there is shown a pair of such combs or bars which are arranged rather closely together and which serve the double function of supporting a pairof recording and reproducing magnets and guiding the wire accurately between the poles thereof. One of said magnets B is supported by the upper bar or comb 29 and lies on one side. of the wire A, while the other, B is supported .by the lower comb 29 and lies on the opposite side of said wire. The poles of the magnets extending at right angles to the wire and contacting with or very closely approaching the same;

while the coil of magnet B is connected place, that with a spring terminal 7), which, when the magnets are in operative position (see Fig. 9) engages the strip 7;" and connects the magnets in series. This arrangement provides for the easy removal of the magnets ing withdrawn by moving the upper bar first to theright (Fig. 9) and then endwise, and the magnet B by moving the lower bar first to the left and then endwise. C

D, D and E E are additional recording and reproducing magnets arranged and supported inprecisely the same manner as magnets B and B and located at suitable intervals along the length of the wire A. F '1; G, G; H H and I, I are" erasing magnets also arranged and supported in the manner above described and serving to obliterate all previous records on the record medium when in action. A pair of erasing magnets is located just ahead of each pair of recording and reproducing magnets. I have shown four pairs of supporting rollers simply as a matter of convenience of illustration. Obviously. any other number may be employed and they may be of any desired axial length and diameter. The number and dimensions and arrangement of rollers and the number of turns of wire around them will be determined by whatever capacity of machine is aimed at.

I Preferably the mechanism above described will be inclosed in a suitable dust proof casing as indicated at M, which may be so designed as to afford a supporting shelf 01,

table m, for a typewriting machine N, as "well as for certain switching and controlling devices hereinafter referred to. lhere is also mounted on the outside of the casing .an indicating device 0, consisting of a graduated 'dial 0, and an index hand 0' connected to a suitable train of gearing 0 one of the wheels 0 of whichis engaged by a pinion of, on theroller 1 The'ratio of gearing is Such that the index hand will travel once around the dial with each complete cycle of the record medium.

*Referring to Fig. 2 8 indicates a spring switch having blades 8, 8 and 8. These bladesa're arranged and'connected in such a way that in the normal position of the switch, the blades 8* and 8 are in electrical contact with one another, but in the .alternate position of the switch corresponding to the recording operation of the machine the blades 8* and s are separated, while 8 5 and 8 are brought into contact.

' K is a battery, P the primary of an inductioncoil, and P! the secondary thereof, the latter being adapted to be connected with the recording and reproducing mag- I nets before referred to in a manner presently to be described.-

R is an ordinary telephone receiver; T a

transmitter, and L a double-ended pivoted strains atany particular point.

switch arm 'having its ends insulated from each other, and having [one end thereof adapted to make electrical contact with any one'of four terminals c, 0%, 0 or a, while the other end makes contact with similar I terminals cl, d 03 or 03, respectively.

When a record is to be made, the operation is as follows: The motor being started the wire A will be caused to travel bodily overthe rollers in an endless path, but inasmuch as all of the rollers travel at the same surface speed and in the same direction and pay out wire precisely as fast as they take it on, the driving force will be distributed evenly to all parts of the wire throughout, and there will be no inordinate pulls or This reduces the chances, of breakage to a minimum. Having started the motor, it is unnecessary that the operator begin delivering matter for record to the transmitter at once merely in order to conserve record space'l The record medium being endless, a beginningmay be made at any point thereon,

without sacrifice of'space. When, however, the operator does begin to use the trans mitter, he will note the position ofthe index hand 0' on the dial. When the hand has made a complete circuit and returns to that position, he will know that the record medium has also made a complete circuit:

When maklng a record, the switch 8 is moved to the alternate position of that shown by sustained pressure on the part 8 in the direction of .thearrow, and a-circuit is completed from battery K through wire lf,

' blade a to blade .3, and from thence to blade '8 wire Z wire Z transmitter T, wire Z, primary winding P'and back to battery K.

The voice or other sound currents in this circuit under the influence of the transmitter induce currents in the secondary wlnding P which traverse the following circuit: wire m, blade 8?, blade s ,.w1re Z sw1tch arm L, contact 0 ,'w1re Z ma-gents D, D w re m common return wire m wire mflback to the secondary winding. A record is accordingly made on the traveling wire A. At the same tlme the erasing magnets are constantly eiiergized from the battery in advance. of the recording and/reproducing magnets by the following circuit: battery K, wire Z, blade 8 blade 8", blade 8", wire Z wire a, common wlre n w1re'n magents H, H .w1re 7b,.

terminal d switch arm L, wire at, back'to battery. 'The record having been made, the' reproduction thereof is accomplished by re-.

lieving pressure on the button 8 arfd allowing switch to resume normal conditions with blades, receiver R, wire 1w, wire m, back to blades 8 and s", in contact so that a' direct; circuit is formed from magnets D, D orother reproducing magnets according to the position of the switch'arm L, through wire Z ,'tern'1inal 0 lever arn'iL, wire 1, blade 8",

the record medium, being cut in.

, magnets. In this-position of switch 8, the

circuit through the erasing magnets is broken between blades s 'and s. a

The advantages of a: record medium, ar-

ranged andoperated in. accordance with the invention described are importantand nu-' merous. Being endless it becomes unneces cial purposes. In ordinary business dictation a straight-awayuninterrupted flow of language is rare. There are apt to be man y breaks in the delivery due to outside interruptions or pauses for thought, during which intervals of silence the record medium travels many feet. In certain well known forms 'oftelegraphones the usefulness of long-lengths of the record medium are lost because of these pauses, and they can berecovered only by back-winding, which entails considerable loss of time, or prevented only by stopping the motor, which is inconvenient. By my invention unu'sed spaces on the record medium may be recovered simply by throwing theswitch arin L ahead and cutting in other magnets. In other words,- when there is-a pause in the delivery, the operator is enabled to overtake the point on the traveling wire where the impression or record leaves off by cutting out the magnets he hadbeen using, and cutting in others 10- cat-ed ahead. For instance, if during dictationthe switch arm L stands in the position shown in Fig. 2 the wire A will be acted upon by the magnets 13, B since they are the only ones in circuit in that position of the switch L. Now suppose there should be a pause in the delivery of such duration that the index hand 0' travels half a revolution. The operator observing this would know thathalf of the length off the record medium had passed by magnets B, B and to recover this lost spacehe would simply move switch.

arm L to the fullline position and resume dictation; magnets B, B being cut out then, and magnets D, D which are located a distance ahead equal to half the length of Should the operator be dissatisfied with,-

' or for any reason wish toalter matter deliveredto the machine, he simply throws lever sufliciently far, ahead -to overtake the b eginning of such matter and repeats it in amended form. v

For convenience and simplicity of illustration-I have shown but four sets .of operating magnets, but .of course a greater number' could be used to advantage. In practice I purpose'to use many magnets, say one toevery 200 or 300 feet of wire. Obviously the greater the number of magnets, the greater-the flexibility of operation.

I Instead of a number of fixed magnets op.

erating as described above, I may employ a single movable magnet as in the manner illustrated in Fig. 10,. in which 21 is the recording and reproducing magnet supported on a shifting frame 22, which is provided with a pawl 23, engaging teeth of rac 24.

There are as many teeth as there are vertical strands to the endless wire A, so that when frame 22 is moved to a desired position, accurate alinement of magnets and wire may be assured, I

' -What I claim, is

. 1. In sound recording and reproducingmachines, an elongated flexible record medium of paramagnetic material arranged in a series of loops and having its ends ]o1ned together, means for moving said medium in the dlrectlon of 1ts length, magnetlc recording and reproducing devices, and means whereby a record may be effected .at any one of a definite selected number of predetermined points.

2. In sound recording' and reproducing machines, a plurality ofrotating supports and an elongated flexible paramagnetic record medium mounted thereon in successive convolutions extending from support to support;'said record. medium. having its ends joined together whereby any pointthereon wilLbe caused to travel in an endless path, magnetic recording devices, and means for rendering said devices effective to produce a record atany one of a number of predetermined points.

3. In recording machines, rollers arranged in a series of pairs, an elongated flexible record medium wound back and forth from roller to roller of each of'said pairs successively and having its endsjoined. together, means for moving said medium in the direction of its length, a plurality of reproducers,

and means for shifting from one reproducer to another reproducer by which the record end has yet to pass. Y

4. In recording machines, supporting rollers spaced apart, and an elongated flexible record medium arranged thereupon in zig-zag fashion from roller to roller, means for moving said medium in the direction of its length, and means for advancing the relation with ble traveling record medium arranged in a series of-loops, a plurality of recording devices located at intervals along the length or" said medium, and means for throwing any individual of such devices'into' operative said medium at will.

7. In sound recording and reproducing machines, an endless traveling paramagnetic record medium arranged in a series of loops, a plurality of magnetic recording and reproducing devices located at, intervals in the.

path of travel ofsaid medium, and a selecting switch for throwing any of such magnetic devices into an electric circuit.

8. In soundrecording, and reproducing machines, an endless traveling paramagnetic record medium arranged in a series of loops, plurality of magnetic recording and reproducing magnets located at intervals along the 'path of travel of said medium, and a selecting switch for throwing any of such magnetic devices into an electric circuit.

9. In recording and reproducing machines, an endless flexible paramagnetic record medium arranged in a series of loops or convolutions, means for moving the same, de vices for separating and guiding the several convolutions of said record medium, a plurality of magnetic devices supported by said separating and guiding devices, and means whereby operative relations may be established betweensaid wire and any of said magnetic devices.

10. In, recording and reproducing machines, an endless paramagnetic record medium arranged ina series of loops, means for moving the same, devices for separating and guiding the several convolutions of said record medium, a plurality of magnetic de- 1 vices adjacent said separating and guiding devices, atelephone circuit, and a selecting switch whereby any of'said magnetic devices may be connected with said telephone circuit.

11. In recording machines, a group of rollers having pinions, a spur wheel common to all of said pinions of said group of rollers, means for driving said spur Wheel, and an endless flexible record medium supporte and driven by said rollers.

12. In recording machines, a series of rollers divided into two separated groups, pinions on said rollers, a spur wheel common to all pinions of one group, a similar spur wheel common other group, an endless flexible record medium supported and driven by said rollers, and common means for driving both spur wheels.

13. In recording machines,- rollers divided into two separated groups, mon to all pinions of said group of rollers, means for driving said spur wheel, an endless flexible paramagnetic record medium supported and drivenby said rollers, magnetic recording devices, adapted to cooperate to all plmons of thea group of =with said medium, and means for transfer-v ring the active effect of said magnetlc derollers divided into two separate groups,;

pinions on said rollers, a spur Wheel common to all pinions of one of said groups, a similar spur wheel common to all'the pinions of the other of said groups, an endless -flexi-' ble record medium supported and driven by said rollers, common means for driving both of said spur wheels, recording devices adapted to cooperate with said medium, and means for transferring the active effect of said devices from one point on said medium to another. I

15. In recording machines, an elongated 1 flexible record medium'ar'ranged in a series,

of loops, means for moving said medium in the direction of itslength, and devices' for separating and guiding the several-strands of the said loops. I a 16. In recording machines, an elongated flexible record medium arranged in a series of loops, supports therefor, devices for separatin'g and guiding the several loops of said medium, and recording andreproducing devices supported by said separating and guiding devices In witness whereof, I subscribe my signature, in the presence of two. witnesses.

, FRANK SOMES OBER. Witnesses:

' G. W. LANDon,

J. K. BRY ANS. 

